Firearm season for deer has begun in New Hampshire

It will be smarter than ever to wear blaze orange when going into the woods this weekend, as New Hampshire heads into the year’s most popular hunting season.

Firearm season for white-tailed deer began Wednesday, Nov. 13, and traditionally the first weekend after the season opens is the busiest time for hunters, who try to take their limit before the deer herd gets too spooked. Roughly 50,000 hunting licenses are sold in New Hampshire each year.

Firearm season runs through Dec. 8 in most of the state. Hunters have been able to take whitetail deer via archery since September and with muzzle-loaded guns earlier this month.

Hunting accidents involving firearms are rare in New Hampshire. The state often sees a case or two in which somebody is accidentally shot by a hunter but it almost always involves another member of the hunting party or the hunters themselves. It is almost unknown for a bystander to be accidentally shot.

For hunters, the most dangerous part of the job is the tree stand, placed far up so that hunters can look down on prey without being noticed. Far more people are injured by falling out of tree stands than are injured by firearms.  

David Brooks can be reached at dbrooks@cmonitor.com.